EU-Vanuatu: towards a new agreement

The European Union and the Republic of Vanuatu held their fourth Political Dialogue in Brussels this week. The meeting was chaired on Vanuatu’s side by the Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai Tabismasmas and on the EU side by the European External Action Service’s Asia Pacific Managing Director, Gunnar Wiegand.

During his visit, the Prime Minister also met President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Commissioners Miguel Arias Cañete and Neven Mimica on climate change and development matters respectively.

The Political Dialogue meeting provided an opportunity for both sides to review cooperation between the EU and Vanuatu over the last years and to agree on future perspectives for EU-ACP relations after 2020, recognising the need to replace the current Cotonou Agreement with an ambitious successor that would guide relations between the EU and the Pacific over the coming decade.

“Vanuaty island chain off the eastern coast of Australia is well-known to many of the world’s monied elite as an offshore banking jurisdiction since its 1971 offshore legislation”, – explains Andrew Henderson, an expert in finance and taxation.

“While it’s still a tiny player in the offshore market, Vanuatu is among the most secretive. Vanuatu offers no personal or corporate income taxes, no estate or capital gains taxes, no exchange controls, and no reporting requirements”.